Ah springtime, when a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of… number crunching?

Gabe Amatangelo, SWTOR’s Lead PvP Designer and purveyor of mirth, stopped by the forums today mostly to quash the fun we might have otherwise had PvP’ing in the buff, but also to shed some rough insight into how Bolster may work in practice.

Those who dreamed of fighting bravely in their skivvies may want to take a few deep breaths before continuing…

My fellow number junkies and streakers,

If you are ‘naked’ in a bracketed match then you will be up to a 90% combat stats disadvantage.

If you are in an open match then the bolster mitigates the difference, not the whole. In other words, you will be at about a ((your level/max level) * 80%) + 10% combat stats disadvantage.

Note that formula is an oversimplification for illustrative purposes.

-Gabe

I never quite liked math, but maybe if it had been expressed in terms of Star Wars concepts in school I may have taken more of a liking to it. Thankfully, the Bounty Hunter comes well equipped to deal with such challenges. While this may have slipped Mikro’s careful scrutiny, do not think for a moment that the Bounty Hunters among us did not notice! Behold, what surely will be the most useful of companions, TI-86:

A Mercenary and his Trusted TI-86

Clearly we should take this example with a grain of salt, but I do view it in some way as a prelude of things to come. Eventually, those of us who are so inclined will start tearing the game down, reducing it to a series of formulas fit more for a spreadsheet than an MMO. Those who wish to truly stay on the cutting edge will likely turn to Min-Maxing, an age old approach. I will be watching closely for any such trends as they apply to PvP, for example. We know for example, that PvP-specific gear will come with some sort of “PvP Stat” which will “will increase a character’s damage, damage absorption, and healing effectiveness specifically in PVP.” Look for this to be one of the first formulas that folks work out.

Some will argue that a game ceases being such when it is reduced to nothing but maths. I think at the very least, folks should know how the individual attributes work, and from which ones their specific classes derive the most benefit.

But at any rate, fret not – the good folks here at SWTOR-Life will be here to bring you the finest in SWTOR-related news, spreadsheets or otherwise!

Gosh, now I’ve almost got my hopes up for TI-86 to make a real appearance, but…

On a whim I actually checked out what sorts of models were available now. Why didn’t they have full 3D graphing and color when we were kids? How long before our kids all just have iPads in their classes and nothing more?